Sam Kadorian, born 1907, had genocidal experience when he was 8 years old. His story starts in the middle of the action, when he was grabbed by Turkish gendarmes as well as all the boys from 5 to 10 years old. He was thrown in to a pile on the sandy beach and witnessed the gendarmes jabbing the children with their swords and and bayonets. Luckily, he was in the center because only sword got to him. He resisted crying because if he did, the gendarmes would know he was still alive. Later on, his grandmother came to the shores of the Euphrates River to comfort Kadorian. Some of the other parents came looking for their children, only to find dead bodies. Some of them dug shallow graves in the sandy river bank with their bare hands to bury their children in them. Others were pushed into the Euphrates river.
Based on his story, readers can tell that it was nerve-wracking for him when he got thrown in a pile of boys his age, then being stabbed by gendarmes, not knowing that he would have any chance of escaping or surviving. He also must have been uncomfortable when they took the children to several places, then a couple more days of walking to reach the Euphrates River. Some questions Kadorian might still have in his mind might be why some people made graves and others pushed them in the river. Also, he might be wondering how the parents felt when they saw their child dead, when "Their little bodies floated away."
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Edward Bedikian, born 1902, had genocidal experience in Sepasdia, or Sivas, in the basement of the school where he was thrown in. There was a girl that he had befriended on the road named Satenig. She gave him a bit of money and told him to don't let "them" take her. They would come around everyday and take whoever was dead or very weak. Satenig was not in good shape, and very week. He tried to protect her, but they saw her and took her. Based on his story, readers can tell the sorrow he felt when he repeats "Took her...", which also tells the reader that he is still shocked. The story he is telling us is choppy and unorganized, which informs the reader that he had not enough education in grammar, or that he is still in shock and that he can't fit the pieces of memory in the right way. Some question still in his mind might be "Why couldn't I protect her?" and "Why did they take her?" He must have felt , or still feel guilty that he couldn't do his job to protect her.
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